TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022, MAVERICK - CONTINUED

 TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022, MAVERICK - CONTINUED

Yesterday we started looking at the concept of “Maverick”  a maverick is defined as “an unorthodox or independent-minded person”

Some synonyms are:

individualist · nonconformist · free spirit · unorthodox person · unconventional person · original · trendsetter · bohemian · eccentric · outsider · rebel · dissenter · dissident · disruptor

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In my research

POINT 1:

“You’ve got to be innovative, independent-minded, and individualistic. Not only look for that in yourself but look for that in other people on your team. You want them to be thinking on their own, and that way they can create a magnitude of results in a short period of time, simply by trusting their gut and moving forward.”

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A “yes” person need not apply.

The article suggested that entrepreneurs tend to be mavericks.  They tend to look for solutions outside the box; outside the status quo.  

A maverick might (or might not) be a ‘team player.  He or she has innovative ideas in their brain - some method to cut through the backlog, some idea to increase revenue or decrease costs.

Bill Gates in his early years was a maverick.  In particular, a developer, and coder, wrote the code for an operating system and sold it to the computing company.  But Gates and his minimum group at Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico wrote the operating system - and licensed it to IBM and other personal computer companies.  Microsoft (aka ‘Gates’) got a pittance for the software, but as people got these personal computers on their desks a licensing fee of $5 per unit soon added up to ‘real money.  

“Gates and Allen later lived at the Sundowner Motel when they wrote a version of the programming language BASIC for the Altair 8800 computer, invented in 1975 by the Albuquerque-based company MITS. The motel was used as a base camp in the mid-1970s before the pair moved Microsoft to the Seattle area.” (see illustration for today’s blog)

It is my view that sometimes an innovator, entrepreneur, and maverick has difficulty moving into management.  They are used to being a “free spirit” or “outsider”, and when the company becomes successful, the process of keeping the company running with appropriate financial reports and analysis, hiring, with a day-by-day operation (where the maverick has to stop being creative), the maverick will need to hire a manager - (or if you will - a chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO), chief financial officer (CFO), and others (like chief technology officer).  

POINT 2:

“Mavericks are completely goal-focused, and I do mean completely goal-focused. They create a goal and they go after it, regardless of anything else around them.”

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I do know of mavericks that can go several days without sleep (surviving on lots of caffeine) when they are getting close to a breakthrough.  GOAL FOCUSED - they can put other things aside (sometimes that can be a problem for a spouse or a family - as the maverick is so focused on the goal.

POINT 3:

“They achieve success through risk-taking. Taking risks, stepping outside of the box if you will.”

I’ve talked many times about getting out of your comfort zone (or, as the article suggests - “stepping outside of the box”).  Like the last point, getting to the goal using whatever method they can find.  

When I think of being a maverick, the risk-taking can be daunting.  If the solution works, they could be rich, and if it doesn’t work, they could be locked out and back on the streets.

POINT 4:

“Breaking the rules. They absolutely, to step outside the box, they’ve got to break the rules.  When they’ve got a rule book, assume they’re going to break it; assume they’re going to step beyond those boundaries. Yet, when they do that’s when opportunity strikes.”

Note - managers who have mavericks need a ‘loose/tight’ relationship.  There may be some corporate rules that can be bent, and maybe some rules that just can’t be overlooked.  If a maverick has to shoot a person to get to the solution, the manager has to draw a line.

As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.

When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?"

Edison replied,

"I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

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Now that is a maverick - he believed it could be done, and he wasn’t going to quit until he found a way.!!

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A quick review:  mavericks do exist (and not just as the fun riverboat gamblers of the old television show).  They are very driven and they might not have the best social skills.  They might take risks and bend or break the rules a little.  

Might you be a maverick?  “Yesterday we started looking at the concept of “Maverick”  a maverick who is defined as “an unorthodox or independent-minded person”.  

Don’t give up on me yet - two more days about mavericks!!  (There might be two surprises!!!!)

LOVE WINS!!

Karen

April 19, 2022